The Glamorous Life...

of an elementary school teacher....I was vomited on today...the end...

Local Yarn Stores

Do you frequent your LYS? Your local yarn store?  I visit bunches of them, but I do patronize the ones in my state the most....There is one that is practically up the street, it's about 10 minutes away.  This is the store I helped out at Stitches.  It's owned by Mary...and I just set a date to teach a crochet  class in January!!!  My first "official" class....

I stopped by to pick up the yarn to make one of Stacey "FreshStitches" monsters.  There are 10 free patterns available here...And there is a CAL and contest going on....So I went to pick up some Ella Rae yarn to use in my monster..I got 5 colors to mix and match

I also picked up a skein of Brown Sheep Bulky in Rosy Velvet...I love this yarn

 

The other store I went to is Madison Wool, which is a bit of a drive...she had set aside Jane Austen Knits and this..

A limited colorway from Manos Wool Clasica.  I saw it on her Facebook page and loved it....I also picked up the Blogiversary gift here...

My husband has owned "mom-pop" stores and I really try to frequent the local businesses as much as possible...I know the prices are sometimes a bit more than an online deal...but really the local businesses so appreciate their loyal customer...

Blogiversary Giveaway!!!

So here it is...I actually went out today to get something...I stopped at two of my favorite local yarn stores...one is not so local, about 45 minutes away, the other is practically up the street...but Madison Wool (the far away one) had set Jane Austin Knits aside for me, as well as the last skein of a limited colorway...and it's a nice drive...

So I am sitting here watching a Supernatural marathon and updates on Hurricane Sandy.....

(seriously...Sandy???)

So, as I said earlier this week....I will be having a giveaway for today...my 6th Blogiversary!!! (Also sister's anniversary and nephew's birthday..it's a big day!)

So what did I get ya?

The yarn is from The SpunMonkey Dyeworks in the color Crab on Its Back.  It's Falkland Superwash DK weight. Well since it's kinda Halloweeney and Autumney..I thought it was perfect!!!  And I will include those two acorn buttons with it.  Can't see them well?  Here is a closeup

They match really well...and there may be other assorted sundries thrown in..who knows?

So to be eligible, as I said, you need to have commented on one of my posts this past year....

Just let me know you are interested, leave a comment on this post...and I'll random generate a winner...since I know many people don't do bloggy things on the weekend..I'll leave this open until Monday night 9 pm EST...which will be the beginnings of Sandy here...and I may not have power....

I Only Went in for

the new Jane Austen Knits...which by the way they did not have....and I came out with...

  

Well the yarn came home from the next store, where I'd stopped to look for Jane Austen Knits...I needed the purple cotton thread, but the red and green yarn were impulse buys, as there is an adorable Santa hat on the ball band.

So I got the two magazines, then wandered in the clearance aisle..saw The Birth Order book...I am fascinated by birth order characteristics...saw A Secret Kept on clearance...I loved Sarah's Key....saw that the new Kate Morton was out and I'd get a good deal with my membership...and then went and picked up the Distant Hours, since I haven't read that one yet...I loved her first two! 

And I still don't have Jane Austen Knits!!!

Tournament the First Yarn Club

So I've mentioned this thing I do called Nerd Wars (it's awesome, you should check it out on Ravelry)

So they have started a yarn club...very exciting!  I did not play in Tournament 1, so this makes me feel part of that tournament...

I got my first package today...

One skein of Metatarsal (Superwash Merino) in Nebula.  It's kinda grey here, so picture is a bit dark.  A sock pattern, which I love...Some Eucalan wash and a giant Nerd Wars pin...I have some smaller ones, but this is full of awesome!

The colors in the yarn are bee-you-ti-ful....see I don't even have to to yarn festivals, it just shows up at my door....I do believe Random Fandom is also on it's way...

Morning Drive and Fall

This was my view on my morning drive today...

And the sun was just rising when I pulled into the school parking lot...

And my backyard is full of fall color...well actually the neighbor's yards, as none of these trees are actually in our backyard...but close enough!  We get the leaves to rake, too...

Blogiversary

My 6th year blogiversary is coming up on Saturday....I will have goodies to give away....In order to be eligible, you must have commented on my blog during the past year....so if you read, but haven't commented in the past year...and would like a shot at some goodies...just leave a comment on a recent post..or an upcoming one...and when I open the contest, you need to let me know that you are interested......just giving you a heads up....and if you have read me, you know I've got lots of goodies!!!  Toodles....

Greater Boston Yarn Crawl

A couple weeks ago, my friend Laura asked me if I'd be interested in doing The Greater Boston Yarn Crawl....well of course I said yes...Bonus I was gonna stay over at her house and get to play with her girls....we made hats out of pipecleaners and colored pictures:

So Laura and I headed out on Sunday...we ended up going first to a store both of us had been to before....The Woolpack in Acton.
I only picked up Kristin Nicholas book and some square DPN's.

Then we moved on to Island Yarn in Waltham.  Where we were serenaded by Wren Ross.  Her songs were hysterical!

I bought some store yarn, Stellar, in Sunburst.

Then we went to another store, browsed for a minute and left...Laura calls is The Hoarders store....it was a bit disorganized, and kinda full....but I did win a door prize from them....

After a bite of lunch, we headed to The Black Sheep in Needham.  This was a great store!  I spent most of my money here....they were just so open and fun.

This is a hammock hanging above the store.  It is made out of someone's thesis (I think) paper.  She shredded the paper, tied it together to make yarn and knitted this hammock...It was pretty cool!

I bought my first Swan's Island here and some Manos Silk Blend for a pair of fingerless gloves that were on display.

Then we headed to Putting on the Knitz in West Newton.  This was a teeny store, but packed full of mostly Noro..and the owners were the sweetest couple...Just lovely....Of course I got some Noro, but the tag fell off, so not sure what kind it is..and I bought the Noro magazine and she gave me a free Noro book of patterns!

We headed to Iron Horse in Natick.   This store had yarn and then some other things...I also won a doorprize from them.  I bought some of the store yarn..in a lovely green...I want to make this..

There's a shawl on top, that you can't see...the other yarn was a club yarn, so she won't release it until the new year....She sold some other goodies...

The last store we stopped at, The Fiber Loft in Harvard, I didn't take any pictures, but I did find the two things I was looking for...the Kristin Nicholas CEY pattern books and some Mirasol Akapaka....

I also bought some assorted magazines throughout the day...

All in all a great day spent with a fabulous friend!  And on the way home..a double rainbow!

Sorry, you can't really see the double part..and I was driving through Worcester, not the safest place to take a picture....

What Did I Come Home With?

I was good...I knew there were a few things I wanted to get...and I did really well....only 4, yes 4 skeins of yarn!!!!

Gnomespun in Swamp Thing (I kinda gave that one away yesterday)  I love this color..and well he talked me into it, showing me those gorgeous socks on his legs, underneath the kilt..

I met him at the Holiday Yarns booth where I was to pick up some Sparkle Bacon yarn...because well, who wouldn't?  She had sold at at Stitches....

Those were purchased toward the end of the day....I first bought some eggs of fiber for needle felting at Moonlight Llamas...

And where Wilkey decided he wanted to hang out for a bit...

I bought some Periwinkle Sheep in Murphy's Favorite Pint

I'm planning on pairing it with the Malabrigo Oeste for the Stephen West design Oeste.

I walked by the next booth, not planning on buying from vendors that I have stuff from, but had never used....until I saw this...and walked closer and saw it was The 'Verse....and it was MINE!

Into the Whirled...love, love her yarns! Oh NO!  I just clicked on her website to link...and she has a yarn club.....

I knew I wanted another basket and picked up this FairTrade one from a CT farm...

The book hanging out of the basket is not mine....I picked it up for a friend....but I did purchase...

And finally, I could not pass up one of these....

I walked by her booth and saw some candle ones, and thought, "I wish she had night lights" and right next to the candles were night lights...then I asked where she was from, was gonna order online, but she is from Dallas, so did not want to pay that shipping....I love this!

I also bought a pair of socks for the Hubs, some fun soap, kettlekorn, and a pair of silver earrings that are a basket of yarn from The Ram's Horn

All in all, a very satisfying trip!

Today's Blog Post is Brought to You By

                                                                 RHINEBECK!!!!!!!

Old spinning wheels...

 Many sheep, because where would we be without them?

 Hats!  The top one is from Moonlight Llamas.

 These hats are from the knit group that meets in the southern part of the state.  I've gone to a few of their knit nights...The top one is an Exploding Tardis, then Panda Bears and finally Mermaids!  I didn't see the rest of the group, but I'm sure a picture will pop up somewhere...they have gotten kinda famous with their hats...

 Rockefeller by Stephen West....

And the man himself....Stephen West...with my friend Maureen, who loves him and I kinda had to push into going up to meet him..

Exploding Fall color....yeah that's me in my big giant granny square tunic....I didn't realize how much it would stretch, need to fix the straps... KnittingDefender is one of my Nerd Wars team mates and she is wearing her Thermal

 Families enjoying the beautiful day...the last picture there is an adult and a child sitting under the tree knitting...

 BeckyinVT sporting a yet-unreleased pattern...

Gnomespun showing off his socks (knit by a friend) in his Gnomespun Swamp Thing (I may have come home with some)









That was Rhinebeck this year...It was an absolute BLAST!!!!  I loved going with Maureen, we had such an awesome time!!!!!